Warm-up activities for speaking

Below is a template for a speaking activity, usually good for Monday or first day after a holiday break:

In groups of three or two, students draw a picture of what they did in the past. Others have to guess at what they did from only looking at the picture. (ideas from Brian Hampson and Shane Dunkle)

Modifications: a more teacher-centered activity, teacher draws numbers, pictures and other images that seem random but represent what teacher did over the break. Students have to guess.

Modification to suit the topic about describing dormitory life: students draw pictures representing happy moments of living in a dorm and bad moments of living in a dorm (or change it to “living at home”). Others have to look at the picture and guess.